Birthday Cupcakes

Birthday Cupcakes

Chocolate Cupcake with Dark Chocolate fudge frosting

Chocolate cake is always a winner. There's no doubt that it's everyone's favourite.

I use 70% cocoa Dark Chocolate for the fudge frosting 

so the sweetness is a bit less than other frosting 

but if you love dark chocolate, I'm sure that you'll love them.

(This is my favourite frosting, too.)

For Kids, 

I usually use milk chocolate for frosting as kids love sweet chocolate.

Most of them are baby size cupcakes.

I made this regular size cupcake(above) with my pink sugar flower to give some highlight.

Baby cupcakes have 4 different styles.

I love various styles in my cupcakes. It's a lot of fun not only to watch

 but also to eat them.

I hope I can post about how-to make simple sugar flowers soon.

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Thank you so much for visiting.

[Recipe] Apple Crumble

Hi, everyone!

I love fresh apples.

I usually buy a box of apples and store them in the fridge.

I eat them for breakfast and sometimes bake apple muffins, pie or apple crumble..etc.

When apples are too ripe or not fresh, I use them for baking.

One of my favourites is the apple crumble.

It is super easy to make and super fast!

 Normally, many recipes for apple crumble require canned apples but I made it myself.

How to make your own stewed apples

800g apples ( about small 7~8 apples), chopped

1/4 cup~1/2 cup brown sugar (adjustable)

Fresh lemon juice 3 table spoons

 Just under 1/4 cup water

Cinnamon(optional)

Mix all together in a saucepan and stew in medium heat.

Stir to cook even until achieving a texture you want. ( I like it crunchy.)

Apple crumble

(Serve 6~8)

1 cup plain flour

1/2 cup rolled oat

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

100g butter, chilled, chopped

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup chopped walnut 

800 g stewed apples( recipe above)

1.Preheat oven 180'C.

2.Mix first 5 ingredients in a bowl and rub in until making bread crumbs consistency.

3.Add walnut above and mix well.

4. Place apples on an oven proof dish and scatter crumble mixture evenly over apples.

5. Bake for 20~25 minutes.

Done!

You can serve it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

(I love melting ice cream on warm apple crumble..Delicious!)

You can also add some berries if you have frozen berries sleeping in your freezer.^^

Have a great day!!

Thank you for visiting.

Happy baking!

[Recipes] Flower Sugar Cookies

Hello, everyone.

I've always tried to make cookies with cute decoration 

since when I found out  bloggers posting about amazing cookie decoration. 

It has been a few months since then. 

I finally made sugar cookies and royal icing for decoration.

I was so excited about using royal icing!!

I used meringue powder for royal icing. It is so easy & simple to make.

You can always control the thickness of royal icing by adding water.

Sugar cookies is also simple to make.

There are lots of recipes for cookies.

I have this Christmas cookies recipe from 'Taste.com.au'

(about 24 cookies)

Ingredients

• 125g butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup (115g) caster sugar
• 1/4 cup (60ml) milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups (225g) self-raising flour
• 1/2 cup (70g) custard powder
• Silver and gold sparkling cachous, to decorate

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Line two baking trays with non-stick baking paper.
2. Use an electric beater to beat the butter and sugar until pale and creamy. 
3. Beat in milk and vanilla extract. Fold in the flour and custard powder.
4. Press the dough into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. 
5. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to rest.
6. Divide the dough into manageable portions. 
7. Roll out one portion on a sheet of non-stick baking paper to about 1cm thick. 
8. Use Christmas cookie cutters to cut shapes and place on the trays. Decorate with cachous.
9. Bake for 10 minutes or until light golden. 
10. Cool for 5 minutes on the trays before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. 
11. Repeat with remaining dough.

If you have cute cookies cutters, you can simply use them &
decorate with anything you like.

You can make any cookies you like ginger cookies or chocolate cookies..etc.

I decorated with baby blue royal icing for the round bottom and added a sugar flower on the top.

You can also decorate with sprinkles or draw simple design with a piping bag.

I didn't use any piping bag for the blue round shape.

I used a spatula by adding a big drop of royal icing in the middle of the cookie and tapped it lightly 

until I got the round clean shape and let it dry til firm.

Here is a royal icing recipe by Wilton.

If you make small batch of cookies like me, you can also halve the royal icing recipe.

You can make cookies for special occasions and 

make them as a gift for friends and family.

Most of all, you can have fun making them! Get creative!

I had a lot of fun making my flower cookies.

I hope I can post more about cookies from now on.

Don't forget to subscribe new posting, everyone!

Thank you for visiting!

White Cake with Chocolate Butter cream Icing

Hello, everyone.

This is the birthday cake for my husband.

I made 6 inch - 4 layered size of white cake with chocolate buttercream frosting.

I was about to make devil's food cake as my husband is a serious chocolate lover

 but my curiosity for new recipes kicked in as usual 

so I had to try a white cake recipe from magnolia bakery cook book.

It was a lot of fun to make. 

After making my first macarons, I've been keen to work with egg whites recently.

This White cake also requires some work with egg whites. 

You whisk them until achieving a soft peak and fold them into a cake batter.

I decorated the cake with the sugar flower I made and the red ribbon.

I didn't plan to decorate the cake like this. I was going to make it simply for eating.

No flower,, ribbons.. no picture whatsoever..

In the end, I couldn't help myself decorating it. Yes, it deserves to look good. 

I have to confess that my flower is missing the last large petal. Has anyone noticed?

Well.. I could say..'It is a part of the design...' :-p 

When I bake something, the most important thing is that it is delicious.

I feel happy when someone looks at my cupcakes a big smile and enjoy eating them.

I hope I can deliver my passion and love through my baking goods.

My husband seemed to enjoy the birthday cake so my mission has been accomplished!!

I hope you have a delicious day with my blog.

Happy baking, everyone!

Light & Fluffy Pancake Recipe

Hello, everyone. 

Today I am posting about easy everyday pancake recipe.

The recipe is from Taste.com.au. I love 'taste' recipes because I can actually check all the reviews 

and adjust recipes by looking through comments.

I've tried meals and desserts and I pretty much love them all.

The pancake is very light, fluffy and very easy to make.

I used to buy a pancake mix but not any more.

Now, we have this perfect recipe for pancakes!

If you want more sweet base pancakes you can simply add more sugar in the recipe.

Buttermilk pancake recipe 

provided by Taste.com.au

I skipped berry syrup sauce from the original recipe

(serve 4 , about 8 medium size pancakes)

1/4 cup caster sugar

1/4 teaspoon of baking soda

1 cup self-raising flour, sifted

1 egg

1 1/4 cup buttermilk

olive oil cooking spray or butter for a frying pan

maple syrup

yoghurt to serve( optional)

If you don't have buttermilk, you can simply make it with 

-Just under a cup of milk

-a table spoon of white vinegar of lemon juice

Mix them together and let stand for five minutes. Ready to go!

1.Combine sugar, baking soda and flour in a bowl.

2. Whisk an egg and buttermilk and Stir into the flour mixture until smooth.

3. Heat a frying pan over medium heat. Spray cooking oil or put butter on the pan.

Pour 2~3 table spoons of the mixture. 

Cook for about 2 minutes or until bubbles form on surface. 

Turn. Cook a further 1 to 2 minutes or until cook through. Repeat with remaining mixture.

Serve with maple syrup & fresh fruits(optional)

I hope you enjoy delicious pancake breakfast with your family!

Have a great day!

[Recipe] Raspberry muffins

Hi, everyone!!

I sometimes make muffins for a lunch box or my tea time dessert.

I found this delicious recipe from Recipe+ magazine 

and I changed some of them but I'll post the original one.

I love the Recipe+ magazine because they've got lots of budget recipes for family.

I was about to add white chocolate but I just omitted it to cut down too much sweetness.

My husband is a big fan of milk or white chocolate but not me.

(I am more for dark chocolate. Love love love it..)

This recipe is very simple and easy to make.

You don't need any electric mixer. Just with your hands and a good spatula.

You can make 6-8 muffins with the recipe

Original recipe' Crunch-topped berry muffins' by 'Recipe+' magazine

Ingredients

2 cups self-raising flour

3/4 cup caster sugar

75g unsalted butter, melted

3/4 cup buttermilk

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 cup fresh of frozen raspberries or mixed berries

If you don't have buttermilk, here is the resource for how to make buttermilk.

For crunch toppings(optional)

1/2 cup walnuts, finely chopped

1 1/2 table spoons brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

I mixed rolled oatmeal and walnuts together and made them as 1/2 cup.

1. Preheat oven to 200'C/180'C fan forced.

Line muffin holes with paper cases.

2. (for toppings) Mix all ingredients and set aside.

3. Sift sugar and flour together and mix well. 

4. Mix buttermilk, egg, melted butter together well and 

Stir it into above(dry ingredients) until just combined.

5. Fold in berries.

It's ready.^^

6. Spoon mixture into prepared holes.

7. Sprinkle with toppings(optional) and bake for 20-30 minutes or 

until a skewer inserted at centre comes out clean.

It took me 25 mins.

8. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. 

Finished!

So easy and simple, isn't it?

 You can buy it for $4.00/each from retail shops or cafes 

but you can make it with $1.20/each. 

How awesome!

I hope you enjoy baking the delicious muffins!!

Happy baking!

[Recipe] Macarons with milk chocolate ganache

Hello, everyone.

I'd love to share my first macarons attempt. 

I always wanted to try to make macarons but somehow.. I was a bit scared.

When I was looking for the recipe with good reviews, 

I found many people tried and failed.

What if I fail?? I didn't want to waste my ingredients. 

Especially almond meal...It is expensive compared to other ingredients,too.

There are lots of recipes you can follow on the internet.

I've watched you tube videos about how to make macarons.

All of them looked easy for me but I was wrong.

I think you need some know how and many practices..

You might think my macarons look okay. Yes, some of them..

but I made lemon curd filling macarons.. They came out a big disaster. 

That's why I'm only posting milk chocolate filling macarons. =D

I don't think it is a matter of the recipe but a matter of some skills.

Before you start, make sure your egg whites are room temperature.

You can separate egg whites when the eggs are cold ( easy to make them seperate.)

No very fresh eggs! Old eggs are better for holding air inside.

You can take them from fridge and let them sit overnight 

so you can ready to bake the next day!

Ingredients

• 1 1/3 cup confectioners' sugar(icing sugar)
• 1 cup almond flour
• 3 large egg whites, room temperature
• Pinch of cream of tartar
• 1/4 cup superfine sugar( castor sugar)

you can make 20-30 macarons with this recipe.

1. Sieve find almond meal (almond flour) and icing sugar together and mix. Set aside.

2. Whisk egg whites with a mixer on medium speed until foamy. (Keep mixing..don't stop.)

Add cream of tartar ( if you don't have it, you can skip it.)

Add castor sugar gradually. Whisk on the high speed until stiff peak foams.

3. Fold dry mixture(icing sugar+ almond flour) into whites until the mixture is smooth.

4. Transfer batter to a piping bag with a round tip. Prepare 2* baking tray with lined baking sheets.

Pipe it onto baking sheets (above). Make sure macarons are 2 cm apart from each other.

Tap bottom of each sheet on the work surface to release air inside the macaron batter.

Let it stand at room temperature for about 15-20 minutes to foam a skin.

While skin is foaming, preheat oven 170'C

My milk chocolate ganache & lemon curd filling

5. Bake one sheet at a time. Bake for about 10 mins until macarons are crisp and firm.

 Rotate half way through.

6. Let it cool on the baking sheet for 2-3 mins and transfer to a wire rack.

7. Sandwich 2 macarons with 1 teaspoon of filling.

 8. Finished!! Sweet macarons with milk chocolate ganache.

Here is a Chocolate Ganache recipe by Mathastewart.

I didn't have dark chocolate so used milk chocolate(my husband's favourite) and it turned out great.

*You can use any jam you have for your macaron filling.

My picky husband loved my first macarons. A good complement by him is always rewarding. =D

*Piping a right amount of macarons seems to be important. Practice makes perfect!!

Hope you enjoy baking macarons!

The Giant Sugar Flower Class by Planet Cake

Finished products!

Hello, everyone.

 I've just completed the giant sugar flower class!!!! 

(I posted about the planet cake & sugar flowers before.)

 I was so excited when I enrolled the class 

because it was the first time for me to learn sugar craft professionally.

I've always learned it from internet, books and videos..almost self learning I guess.

My teacher, Jessica has been so amazing.
She doesn't hesitate to share her know-how & knowledge with students.

Most of all, she is a very kind and happy person.
Loved listening to her I-pod music during the class.

Poppy

Dog rose(yellow)

Magnolia

 I had some drama going on during the class.  When I was taping all my magnolia petals, I dropped it...and most petals were just broken apart.. It broke my heart... literally.. 

I've been putting so much effort into making petals for last 3 weeks and I just ruined it in seconds.

I was very lucky to have other classmates' extra petals so

 I was able to make my new magnolia...How lucky I am!

Thank you, class & Jessica for helping me..

Air brushing

Dusting

I love this dessert and tea table. 

very proud of what we've done!!

 It was great to see all flowers completed and looked beautiful.

We did our own design so every flower looked unique and intriguing..

Some were gorgeous and looked real. Others were experimental.. rare colour to find but very attractive..

I've learned a lot from other people's flower design,too.

My seat was right next to teacher's demo table. I can see my teacher, Jessica with brown T-shirt.

I will miss this class.
Hope I can come back soon... First, I should save some money.=D hahaha

We all finished the giant sugar flowers class!! Happy days! 

 Thank you for coming.

Have a great day!!!